ABSTRACT
Black feminism has been central in creating that space, in large part, via Black women’s claims for self-definition. Black women’s work and family experiences create the conditions whereby the contradictions between everyday experiences and the controlling images of Black womanhood become visible. By advancing Black women’s empowerment through self-definition, these safe spaces help Black women resist the dominant ideology promulgated not only outside Black civil society but also within African-American institutions. Black women writers have led the way in recognizing the importance of Black women’s relationships with one another. Black women have been central in maintaining, transforming, and re-creating the blues traditions of African-American culture. As the work of Black women blues singers and Black women writers suggests, many of the ideas generated in such spaces found a welcome reception outside Black women’s communities. Whether individual struggles to develop a changed consciousness or the group persistence needed to transform social institutions, actions that bring about changes empower African-American women.
